Alex Teka was a 12 year old New Zealand school student who committed suicide in 2005. In short she was cyber bullied relentlessly by a group of girls not that much older than her. They sent her abusive and threatening emails and text messages. The event was initially reported to the school but this is said to have made the incidence worse. The result that the day before Alex was due to return to school she was found dead in her backyard.
This story is also very sad and the key point that sticks out for me is that once it was reported that it only made the situation worse and that was what resulted in her death. I guess I'm left wondering what the school actually did or really didn't do? And why it wasn't effective? The other striking thing is in the third article in which it becomes apparent that the perpetrating girls believed they had done nothing really that wrong. For me this raises questions about the whole legality of cyber bullying. Can people be held responsible for their actions in cyber space and does everything need to be tried as a legal case every time or should we be vesting more powers in schools so they have the power to intervene and hopefully educate. Although taking this school as an example you wouldn't really want them to have more power because they achieved nothing after the first reported incidence.
The cyber bullying core event could take place over the the summer this then asks the questions about the schools ownership in the situation and if they should have power in this circumstance. Should schools have more power in these circumstances? Or should it remain out of their hands? I think schools are places for educating and community. Therefore if we are to in an attempt to try and educate students, anythign that happens to people from the same community should be able to have repercussions at that place even if the event took place elsewhere.This does blur the boundaries between public and private lives though, are we as a society prepared to take this step?
The girls not believing they had done anything wrong also reflects the whole nature of bullying as a phenomenon. We were just mucking around, just joking, etc. Kacey's Response
What I found interesting about this, is in the first article it noted that a punnishment far worse for the victims of cyber bulling was disconnected from the net (banned from use) mobile phone taken off them. You would think that the victim would be happy to give up these technologies if they were the messengers of the bullying, i know i would....it all comes back to that thing we were talking about not being able to log off, or unplug. is today's generation of adolescence that far consumed into the cyber world???, and if so it is like they are living in a parrallel universe, because there are no specific rules there and it seems they are free to do what they want....interesting??? pehaps they have found a haven in the cyber world away from parents, guardians, teachers, who don't know much about the net and they can hide what ever they are doing....i would like to rename cyber bullying to Coward Bullying, because this is what it is...anonimity or privacy from those who are not, what did we say, techno natives. its like they have a place where they cant get caught for doing the wrong thing??? Hmmmm...raises alot of interesting things to explore from the theatrical perspective eh???
Nick's reply
The thing's that you think will be good to explore theatrically are:
The lack of rules in this digital space
There are actually rules and there is big moves at the moment to try and tighten internet laws.
The question is will these laws do more harm than good? Is the nanny state a good thing?
cyber bullying is cowardly
Is all bullying not cowardly? The power imbalance with a bully and victim to me makes all bullying cowardly. If the power imbalance didn't exist then the bully wouldn't attack the victim because there is a chance they can retaliate.
The inability to unplug
I don't know if this is just that they are too consumed but that the digital online world is just another thing we do like walking. If you were told that if you continued to walk you would die it would be very difficult to stop walking.
I feel like it resembles a drug addict in a way because they get pleasure out of being able to be connected, difficulty withdrawing from it and it is harmful for them.
The parallel universe is an interesting idea, reality and hyper reality
Alex Teka
Alex Teka was a 12 year old New Zealand school student who committed suicide in 2005. In short she was cyber bullied relentlessly by a group of girls not that much older than her. They sent her abusive and threatening emails and text messages. The event was initially reported to the school but this is said to have made the incidence worse. The result that the day before Alex was due to return to school she was found dead in her backyard.Here is the story covered by the age: http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-bully-you-cant-see/2007/03/09/1173166983566.html?page=fullpage
Here is the story covered by the New Zealand Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10372137
Here is a follow up article from the New Zealand Herald the following day cyber bullies claiming they are not to blame for her death:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=500617&ObjectID=10372218
Nick's response
This story is also very sad and the key point that sticks out for me is that once it was reported that it only made the situation worse and that was what resulted in her death. I guess I'm left wondering what the school actually did or really didn't do? And why it wasn't effective? The other striking thing is in the third article in which it becomes apparent that the perpetrating girls believed they had done nothing really that wrong. For me this raises questions about the whole legality of cyber bullying. Can people be held responsible for their actions in cyber space and does everything need to be tried as a legal case every time or should we be vesting more powers in schools so they have the power to intervene and hopefully educate. Although taking this school as an example you wouldn't really want them to have more power because they achieved nothing after the first reported incidence.The cyber bullying core event could take place over the the summer this then asks the questions about the schools ownership in the situation and if they should have power in this circumstance. Should schools have more power in these circumstances? Or should it remain out of their hands? I think schools are places for educating and community. Therefore if we are to in an attempt to try and educate students, anythign that happens to people from the same community should be able to have repercussions at that place even if the event took place elsewhere.This does blur the boundaries between public and private lives though, are we as a society prepared to take this step?
The girls not believing they had done anything wrong also reflects the whole nature of bullying as a phenomenon. We were just mucking around, just joking, etc.
Kacey's Response
What I found interesting about this, is in the first article it noted that a punnishment far worse for the victims of cyber bulling was disconnected from the net (banned from use) mobile phone taken off them. You would think that the victim would be happy to give up these technologies if they were the messengers of the bullying, i know i would....it all comes back to that thing we were talking about not being able to log off, or unplug. is today's generation of adolescence that far consumed into the cyber world???, and if so it is like they are living in a parrallel universe, because there are no specific rules there and it seems they are free to do what they want....interesting??? pehaps they have found a haven in the cyber world away from parents, guardians, teachers, who don't know much about the net and they can hide what ever they are doing....i would like to rename cyber bullying to Coward Bullying, because this is what it is...anonimity or privacy from those who are not, what did we say, techno natives. its like they have a place where they cant get caught for doing the wrong thing??? Hmmmm...raises alot of interesting things to explore from the theatrical perspective eh???
Nick's reply
The thing's that you think will be good to explore theatrically are: